2K Sports chose the iPhone 5 day to launch its multi-platform basketball series on iOS devices. NBA2K12 will be hitting Apple’s iPhone and iPad for the first time next Tuesday, October 4. CNETplayed the game and walked away pretty impressed. Animations are great and console-like, down to the Signature Style shooting moves. NBA2K12 supports Apple’s Game Center and sports Michael Jordan classic battles. In fact, it’s the first time the famous basketball player has adorned any mobile gaming platform. As for playing modes:

You have the standard Quick Game; there’s a full 82-game Season Mode with player transactions; Playoff Mode, where you’ll skip the regular season and jump right into the games that count; and Situation Mode, which allows you to create custom scenarios where you can try to comeback from 5 points down with a minute left.

NBA2K12 will cost ten bucks on the iPad and half that for the iPhone/iPod touch version. As the holiday shopping season approaches, games publishers have begun releasing triple-As on the Apple platform. For example, last week brought Mac gamers FIFA Soccer 12. Super publisher Electronic Arts has one of the strongest showings on iOS devices, including FIFA 12. Halo creator Bungie last month released their first iOS game and we’re also awaiting N.O.V.A. 3, Gameloft’s first title using the Unreal Engine 3 (and many more to come).